U.S. patent number 5,148,786 [Application Number 07/817,032] was granted by the patent office on 1992-09-22 for air intake system arrangement of motorcar engine.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha. Invention is credited to Yasuo Matsumura, Atsushi Niimi.
United States Patent |
5,148,786 |
Matsumura , et al. |
September 22, 1992 |
Air intake system arrangement of motorcar engine
Abstract
An air cleaner is fixed, at least at a fixing portion of the air
cleaner, to a motorcar body reinforcing member which is provided in
an engine room to increase the supporting rigidity of the air
cleaner. The air intake duct is disposed around the reinforcing
member so that the duct length can be increased and the duct can be
laid out in a space-efficient manner.
Inventors: |
Matsumura; Yasuo (Utsunomiya,
JP), Niimi; Atsushi (Utsunomiya, JP) |
Assignee: |
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki
Kaisha (Tokyo, JP)
|
Family
ID: |
26334430 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/817,032 |
Filed: |
January 3, 1992 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 21, 1991 [JP] |
|
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3-001243[U] |
Jan 21, 1991 [JP] |
|
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3-005078 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
123/198E;
96/388 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B60K
13/02 (20130101); F02B 77/13 (20130101); F02M
35/10111 (20130101); F02M 35/14 (20130101); F02M
35/161 (20130101); F02M 35/1266 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B60K
13/02 (20060101); B60K 13/00 (20060101); F02B
77/11 (20060101); F02B 77/13 (20060101); F02M
35/14 (20060101); F02M 35/00 (20060101); F02M
35/16 (20060101); F02M 35/10 (20060101); F02B
077/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;123/198E ;55/276,DIG.21
;181/229 ;180/68.3 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Kamen; Noah P.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Armstrong, Nikaido, Marmelstein,
Kubovcik & Murray
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An air intake system arrangement for a motorcar engine, said air
intake system having an air cleaner and an air duct to be connected
to said air cleaner, characterized in that: said air cleaner is
fixed at least at a part thereof to a motorcar body reinforcing
member which has a closed cross-sectional shape and which is
provided in an engine room; and that said air duct is disposed
around said motorcar body reinforcing member.
2. An air intake system arrangement according to claim 1, wherein a
fixing portion for fixing said air cleaner to the motorcar body
reinforcing member is provided in a space which is defined by said
air duct disposed around said motorcar body reinforcing member.
3. An air intake system arrangement according to claim 1, wherein
said air duct is fixed to a motorcar body at a portion where said
air duct detours through a space under said motorcar body
reinforcing member.
4. An air intake system arrangement according to claim 1, wherein
said air duct is provided with a drain hole at a bottom thereof
where said air duct detours through a space under said motorcar
body reinforcing member
5. An air intake system arrangement according to claim 1, wherein:
said air duct is an air intake duct on an upstream side of said air
cleaner; said air intake duct is arranged to extend from an inlet
port of said air cleaner through a motorcar's widthwise outside
space of said motorcar body reinforcing member, further down around
a space in an underneath of said motorcar body reinforcing member,
and up through a motorcar's widthwise inside space of said motorcar
body reinforcing member; an upstream end portion is provided to
extend from an upper end of the vertically rising portion of said
air intake duct outwards in the motorcar's width direction through
a space above said motorcar body reinforcing member; and an air
intake port is provided at an end of said upstream end portion.
6. An air intake system arrangement according to claim 5, wherein
said upstream end portion of said air intake duct is supported on a
lower casing of said air cleaner.
7. An air intake system arrangement according to claim 1, wherein:
said air duct is an air intake duct on an upstream side of said air
cleaner; one of openings of an inlet port of said air cleaner and a
connecting port at a downstream end of said air intake duct is
inserted into the other of said openings with a clearance
therebetween; a sealing member for closing the clearance is
provided; and a drain hole is provided in said sealing member in a
position below an open end of said one of openings.
8. An air intake system arrangement according to claim 7, wherein:
said inlet port of said air cleaner is arranged to open downwards;
said sealing member is attached to said inlet port that represents
the other of said openings; and said connecting port at the
downstream end of said air intake duct is fitted into a fitting
opening which is provided in said sealing member.
9. An air intake system arrangement for a motorcar engine, said air
intake system having an air cleaner and an air duct to be connected
to said air cleaner, characterized in that: said air cleaner is
fixed at least at a part thereof to a side frame which is connected
to an apron portion, said apron portion being formed of a wheel
housing panel which constitutes an engine room side wall and being
bent inward in the motorcar's width direction; and that said air
duct is disposed around said side frame.
10. An air intake system arrangement for a motorcar engine
according to claim 9, wherein said air cleaner is placed in a space
in front of a damper housing which is provided in said wheel
housing panel such that said air cleaner extends over said apron
portion and said side frame.
11. An air intake system arrangement for a motorcar engine
according to claim 10, wherein said air duct is disposed around
that portion of said side frame which is positioned in front of a
mounting portion of said air cleaner.
12. An air intake system arrangement according to claim 11, wherein
that portion of said air duct which detours under said side frame
is fixed to a bracket which is attached to a front end portion of
said side frame.
13. An air intake system arrangement according to claim 10, wherein
a fixing portion for fixing said air cleaner to said side frame is
provided in a space which is enclosed by said air duct disposed
around said side frame.
14. An air intake system arrangement according to claim 9, wherein
a fixing portion for fixing said air cleaner to said side frame is
provided in a space which is enclosed by said air duct disposed
around said side frame.
15. An air intake system arrangement according to claim 9, wherein:
said air duct is an air intake duct on an upstream side of said air
cleaner; said air intake duct is arranged to extend from an inlet
port of said air cleaner through a motorcar's widthwise outside
space of said side frame, further down around a space in an
underneath of said side frame, and up through a motorcar's
widthwise inside space of said side frame; an upstream end portion
is provided to extend from an upper end of the vertically rising
portion of said air intake duct outwards in the motorcar's width
direction through a space above said side frame; and an air intake
port is provided at an end of said upstream end portion.
16. An air intake system arrangement according to claim 15, wherein
said upstream end portion is supported on a lower casing of said
air cleaner.
17. An air intake system arrangement according to claim 15,
wherein: said air duct is in air intake duct on an upstream side of
said air cleaner; a first relatively small volume silencer chamber
which is in communication with said air intake duct is provided
inside an engine room space which is on the inside of a wheel
housing panel; and a second relatively large volume silencer which
is in communication with said air intake duct is provided inside a
fender space which is on the outside of the wheel housing
panel.
18. An air intake system arrangement according to claim 9, wherein:
said air duct is an air intake duct on an upstream side of said air
cleaner; a first relatively small volume silencer chamber which is
in communication with said air intake duct is provided inside an
engine room space which is on the inside of a wheel housing panel;
and a second relatively large volume silencer which is in
communication with said air intake duct is provided inside a fender
space which is on the outside of the wheel housing panel.
19. An air intake system arrangement for a motorcar engine, said
air intake system having an air cleaner and an air duct to be
connected to said air cleaner, characterized in that: said air
cleaner is placed in a space in front of a damper housing which is
provided in a side wall of an engine room; said air cleaner is
fixed at least at a part thereof to a motorcar body reinforcing
member which is provided along said side wall; and said air duct is
disposed around that portion of the motorcar body reinforcing
member which is positioned in front of a placing portion of said
air cleaner.
20. An air intake system arrangement for a motorcar engine
according to claim 19, wherein a fixing portion for fixing said air
cleaner to said motorcar body reinforcing member is provided in a
space enclosed by said air duct disposed around said motorcar body
reinforcing member.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an air intake system arrangement for a
motorcar engine and, in particular, to a layout arrangement of an
air cleaner and an air duct which is connected to the air
cleaner.
In the Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No.
147624/1986 there is known an air intake system arrangement in
which an air cleaner is mounted on an apron portion which is bent
inwards of a wheel housing panel constituting a side wall of an
engine room, and in which an air intake duct to be connected to an
inlet port of the air cleaner through the apron portion is disposed
in a curved manner in a space within a fender which is located
outside the wheel housing panel.
In order to restrict the dissipation of the air intake sound from
the air intake duct, it is desirable to increase the length of the
duct. However, in case where the air intake duct is contained in a
limited space within the fender as described above, the duct cannot
be made much longer, even if it is bent, out of the limitation on
the curvature at the bent. Further, in the above-described
arrangement, since the air cleaner is mounted on the apron portion
of plate shape, there is a disadvantage in that supporting rigidity
of the air cleaner is likely to be lacking.
OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Considering the above-described disadvantages, this invention has
an object of providing an air intake system arrangement in which
the supporting rigidity of the air cleaner is increased and,
further, in which the air duct is increased in its total length and
is disposed in a better space efficiency.
In order to achieve the above-described object, this invention is
an air intake system arrangement for a motorcar engine
characterized in that an air cleaner is fixed at least at a part
thereof to a motorcar body reinforcing member which has a closed
cross-sectional shape and which is provided in an engine room and
that the air duct is disposed around the motorcar body reinforcing
member.
In this arrangement, it is possible to increase the supporting
rigidity of the air cleaner by utilizing the motorcar body
reinforcing member as a member for supporting the air cleaner. In
addition, it is possible to increase the length of the air duct by
disposing it around the motorcar body reinforcing member. It is
further possible to arrange the air cleaner and the air duct in an
engine room in a space-efficient manner by utilizing the space
around the motorcar body reinforcing member as a space for
disposing the air cleaner and the air duct.
In the above-described arrangement, if a fixing portion for fixing
the air cleaner to the motorcar reinforcing member is provided in a
space enclosed by the air duct which is disposed around the
motorcar body reinforcing member, the space efficiency is further
increased.
In case where the air cleaner is placed near a side wall of the
engine room, it is preferable to utilize the space in front of a
damper housing which is provided in the side wall, as a space for
placing the air cleaner so that the air cleaner can be supported by
the motorcar body reinforcing member such as the side frame that is
provided along the side wall. It is also preferable to arrange the
air duct around that portion of the motorcar body reinforcing
member which is positioned in front of the placing portion of the
air cleaner so that the air duct can be disposed in a
space-efficient manner.
In case where the air duct is an air intake duct on an upstream
side of the air cleaner, the air intake duct is arranged to extend
from an inlet port of the air cleaner, respectively, through a
laterally (i.e., in the direction of a motorcar's width) outside
space of, and further down around a space in the underneath of, and
up through a laterally inside space of, the motorcar body
reinforcing member. And an upstream end portion is provided to
extend from an upper end of the vertically rising portion of the
air intake duct towards a laterally outside direction through a
space above the motorcar body reinforcing member. According to this
arrangement, the duct length can be increased and, at the same
time, an air intake port to be formed at an end of the upstream end
portion faces a laterally external side, whereby the heated air
around the engine is prevented from entering the air intake
duct.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and attendant advantages of this invention will become
readily apparent by reference to the following detailed description
when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings
wherein:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of this
invention;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of an important portion thereof;
FIG. 3 is a side view of FIG. 2 viewed from the direction of an
arrow marked III;
FIG. 4 is a front view of FIG. 2 viewed from the direction of an
arrow marked IV;
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a connecting portion between an air
cleaner and an air duct taken along the line V--V in FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a sectional plan view taken along the line VI--VI in FIG.
5; and
FIG. 7 is a sectional view of another embodiment of a connecting
portion between an air cleaner and an air duct.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIG. 1, numeral 1 denotes a wheel housing panel which
constitutes a side wall of an engine room. Numeral 2 denotes a
fender which is provided on an outside of the wheel housing panel
1. An apron portion 1a which is bent inwards is formed of the wheel
housing panel 1. That part of the apron portion 1a which extends
downwards from the inner end thereof is constituted by a side frame
3 which serves as a motorcar body reinforcing member and which is
in a shape of a closed cross section. An air cleaner 4 is disposed
in a space in front of a damper housing 1b which is formed in the
wheel housing panel 1, such that the air cleaner 4 extends over the
apron portion 1a and the side frame 3. In front of the air cleaner
4 an air intake duct 5 which is connected to the air cleaner 4 is
disposed so as to enclose the side frame 3.
The air cleaner 4 contains a cleaning element (not illustrated) in
a casing which is made up of a lower casing 6 and a detachable
upper casing 7. The air to come into the air cleaner 4 from an
inlet port 4a formed in the lower casing 6 is cleaned by the
cleaning element and is supplied to an engine through an outlet
port 4b formed in the upper casing 7. As shown in FIGS. 2 through
4, the air cleaner 4 is fixed to the side frame 3 at a fixing
portion 8 in a front lower portion of the lower casing 6. The air
cleaner 4 is also fixed to the wheel housing panel 1 and to the
damper housing 1b at a fixing portion 9 in an outside upper portion
and at a fixing portion 10 in a rear upper portion, respectively,
of the lower casing 6.
The air intake duct 5 is arranged such that it extends from the
downwardly opened inlet port 4a which is formed in the front
portion of the lower casing 6, through the apron portion 1a
downwards through a laterally (i.e., in the direction of a
motorcar's width) outside space of the side frame 3, and further
down around a space under the side frame 3, and up through a
laterally inside space of the side frame 3. An upstream end portion
5b is provided to extend from an upper end of the vertically rising
portion of the air intake duct 5 towards a laterally outside
direction through a space above the side frame 3. Atmospheric air
is taken in from an air intake port which opens outwards at the end
of the upstream end portion 5b so that heated air around the engine
is not sucked into the air intake duct 5. It follows that the air
intake duct 5 is arranged to go around nearly the whole
circumference of the side frame 3 between a downstream end portion
5a which is connected to the inlet port 4 a and the upstream end
portion 5b. The air intake duct 5 is fixed, at a fixing portion 11
on the rear of the upstream end portion 5b, to the front side of
the lower casing 6 and is also fixed, at a fixing portion 12
located in an intermediate portion of the air intake duct 5 in a
space below the side frame 3, to the rear of a pulling bracket 3a
which is attached to a front end portion of the side frame 3.
By thus fixing the upstream end portion 5b of the air intake duct 5
to the lower casing 6, vibrations of the upstream end portion 5b
can be prevented. This arrangement has also an advantage in that
the air intake duct 5 may be left untouched when the cleaner
element is exchanged by removing the upper casing 7. This improves
the ease of maintenance.
In order to utilize the space defined by the air intake duct 5
which encloses the side frame 3, as a space for mounting the air
cleaner 4 to the side fame 3, the above-described fixing portion 8
is located further into a space under the upstream end portion 5b
of the air intake duct 5 to fix the air cleaner 4 to the side frame
3 in that position.
In an upstream portion of the air intake duct 5 there is connected
a first silencer chamber 13 of relatively small volume. A second
silencer chamber 14 of relatively large volume is provided in a
space within the fender 2, and the air intake duct 5 is connected
to the silencer chamber 14 in an inserting manner at a connecting
cylinder 5c which is provided in a downstream portion of the air
intake duct 5. In this arrangement, by disposing the air intake
duct 5 so as to extend around the side frame 3, the ratio of the
space occupied by the air intake duct 5 to the space within the
fender 2 can be reduced. As a result, the volume of the second
silencer chamber 14 can be increased correspondingly, so that the
silencing characteristics for the low-frequency range can be
improved. The silencing chamber 14 is fixed to the pulling bracket
3a at a bottom fixing portion 15 and to the wheel housing panel 1
at an upper fixing portion 16, respectively.
In each of the fixing portions 8-11, 15 and 16, there is provided a
resilient member to absorb vibrations.
In the bottom of an intermediate portion of the duct 5 which is
located in the space under the side frame 3, there is provided a
drain hole 17 so that water entering the air intake duct 5 can be
drained therethrough.
The inlet port 4a of the air cleaner 4 is formed, as shown in FIGS.
5 and 6, in an oval which is larger than a connecting port 5c at
the end of the downstream end portion 5a of the air intake duct 5.
An oval rubber sealing member 18 is attached to the inlet port 4a.
A fitting opening 18a which diverges to one side of the major axis
direction of the oval is formed in the sealing member 18, and the
connecting port 5c is fitted into the fitting opening 18a from
underneath. According to this arrangement, a dimensional error in
the connecting port 5c can be absorbed by the sealing member 18
and, therefore, the duct connecting work can be facilitated. At the
downstream end portion 5a of the air intake duct 5 there is formed
a flange portion 5d in a position corresponding to the bottom end
of the connecting port 5c so that the inserting depth of the
connecting port 5c into the sealing member 18 can be restricted by
the flange portion 5d.
On the other side of the major axis direction of the oval of the
sealing member 18, there are formed a dented portion 18b of
crescent shape and a drain hole 18c in the central bottom portion
thereof so that water in the air cleaner 4 can be drained through
the drain hole 18c. The drain hole 18c is positioned below the open
end of the connecting port 5c and, therefore, water does not come
into the air intake duct 5 from the open end. When the inlet port
4a and the sealing member 18 are formed in an oval shape and the
inserting portion of the connecting port 5c is made to diverge to
one side of the major axis direction of the oval as this
embodiment, it is advantageous in that a large space can be secured
on the other side of the major axis direction of the oval to form
therein the drain hole 5c.
In case the inlet port 4'a of the air cleaner 4' and the connecting
port 5'c of the air intake duct 5' are connected in the horizontal
direction, as shown in FIG. 7, the connecting port 5'c can be
formed in a relatively large diameter and the sealing member 18'
can be mounted thereon so that the inlet port 4'a can be inserted
into the sealing member 18'. In this case, a drain hole 18'c is
formed in that portion of the sealing member 18' which is below the
inlet port 4'a so that the water inside the air intake duct 5' can
be discharged through the drain hole 18'c without the water's
entering the inlet port 4'a.
In case the inlet port 4'a is inserted into the sealing member 18'
like in the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the air resistance will
increase by striking of the air flow against the sealing member
18'. On the contrary, in case where the connecting port 5c is
inserted into the sealing member 18 mounted on the inlet port 4a
that is formed in a relatively larger diameter, as in the
embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the above-described disadvantage
of the air resistance can be eliminated. It has a further advantage
in that, because the duct area on the downstream side is enlarged,
the moisture content in the air becomes easily separated through
expansion of the air.
In the above-described embodiments, the side frame 3 is selected as
the motorcar body reinforcing member to which the air cleaner 4 is
fixed and around which the air intake duct 5 is arranged. This
invention can also be applied to an embodiment in which the air
cleaner is fixed to a motorcar body reinforcing member, other than
the side frame 3, inside the engine room.
It is readily apparent that the above-described air intake system
arrangement for a motorcar engine has the advantage of wide
commercial utility. It should be understood that the specific form
of the invention hereinabove described is intended to be
representative only, as certain modifications within the scope of
these teachings will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
Accordingly, reference should be made to the following claims in
determining the full scope of the invention.
* * * * *